Monday Night Football got away from the Chiefs in a pivotal 8(ish)-minute stretch
The Chiefs poor execution right before and after halftime cost them a 14-point lead in a matter of eight minutes while setting the tone for the rest of the game.
The Kansas City Chiefs fell short against the Jacksonville Jaguars in one of the more maddening losses in some time for many fans. The Chiefs made mistakes — such as a billion penalties — but at no point did it feel as if they weren’t the better team. Their offense was moving the ball seemingly at will, their red zone offense was mostly cashing in opportunities, the defense was making more plays, and they simply looked in control.
The Chiefs didn’t even make a single mistake that overtly cost them the game, yes, that includes the pick-six thrown on the Jaguars’ goal line. Every time the Chiefs made a mistake, they were either able to respond or the Jaguars made a near equally significant one. It’s extra frustrating when considering it felt like the Chiefs were mere seconds away from ending this game midway through the second quarter.
So, how did we get from the Chiefs not being called for a singular ticky-tack defensive pass interference and essentially turning this football game into a blowout to the final score? The answer falls inside the important “Middle Eight” of the game.
Where the game got away from the Chiefs
The Chiefs had jumped out to a 14-0 lead against the Jaguars and were having zero issue moving the football on offense. The Jaguars, on the other hand, had one quality drive out of three opportunities that ended up with a fumble at the goal line. After the ensuing Chiefs’ Touchdown drive, the Jaguars took back over at their own 30-yard line with 10:38 left in the second quarter. Quickly after a short run, a sack, and a delay of game penalty, they were facing a third and 15 from their own 25 with 9:00 left in the half.
This is where things began to turn, but not quite where we pick up yet. The Jaguars picked up the first down on a questionable defensive pass interference call and proceeded to very slowly matriculate down the field. After converting another 3rd down on their way to the red zone, we finally arrive at the Middle Eight.
What is the Middle Eight
The “Middle Eight” refers to the eight minutes directly in the middle of a football game. That is the four minutes leading up until halftime and the first four minutes afterwards. That’s the technical meaning, but in practice, it typically refers to a team’s final drive in the first half and first drive in the second half for both the offense and defense.
A game like this gets a little tricky because the Jaguars technically finished a drive within the final four minutes of the first half and then got another drive with under a minute left that they didn’t really try on. In the second half, they began a drive within the first four minutes of the half, but ultimately completed it with a Touchdown outside of that established timeframe, but for these purposes, we are including both of these drives.
Where it went wrong
As previously mentioned, the Jaguars had driven down the field, maintaining possession for nearly seven minutes before facing a 3rd down at the Chiefs’ 7-yard line.
3rd and 2, 3:29 2nd quarter
On this play, the Jaguars continue to hammer heavy personnel to keep the Chiefs in their base defense, or in this case, some form of a modified goal-line defense with six defensive linemen and an off-ball linebacker up on the ball. The Jaguars then run essentially a strong side pitch and with the Chiefs ’ alignment, they get relatively good blocking angles across the board.
The widest in-line tight end is able to fly off to the second level to secure a kick-out block on the safety. The innermost tight end doesn’t need to really arc to the second level to get to the linebacker, as he’s on the line of scrimmage. This allows him to quickly discard his block on the defensive end — Mike Danna — and immediately get hands on Nick Bolton to ride his hip and create an alley.
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